


alls well that ends well to end up with you

by thatsformetoknow



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU, Divorced Shiro, M/M, Single Parent Lance, college sweethearts au, falling back in love, fifteen years later, honestly the softest most wholesome thing probably ive done, just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:33:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24815386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatsformetoknow/pseuds/thatsformetoknow
Summary: The afternoon was nice and uneventful for the most part, everyone exchanging stories of how they were doing and what was going on in their lives and Lance couldn’t have been happier. That was, until the doorbell went. Who else were they expecting? Everyone was already here.“I’m so sorry I’m late, I got caught up, and the traffic was hell,” came a sheepish voice as Allura went to open the door.“Don’t worry about it, darling, you’re here now,” she smiled back, leading him inside.Lance didn’t have to look to know who it was; he’d know that voice anywhere. It was Shiro. Shiro as in his ex boyfriend Shiro that he’d been desperately in love with and convinced he was going to marry Shiro- that Shiro. He’d only seen Shiro a handful of times since their break up nearly fifteen years ago - at weddings, and things. It had always been a kind of awkward half smile and a wave.
Relationships: Lance/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 160





	alls well that ends well to end up with you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cissil](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cissil/gifts).



Evie whined as Lance pulled the brush through her hair, snagging on a tangle, before pulling a little of it back to fasten with a pink butterfly hair slide, kissing her head and putting the brush down. 

“Perfect,” he smiled, as Evie examined his work in the mirror.

“Daddy, do we _have_ to go today…?” she asked, pouting up at him. 

“I’m afraid so, beautiful. Belle will be there though - that’ll be fun, won’t it?” Lance asked, tilting his head and she huffed out a breath. 

“I guess.”

“Hey now, what’s that for?”

“Belle’s a baby! She’s no fun to play with,” she pouted. 

“She’s not a baby anymore, and I’m sure you’ll be able to include her in your games, hm? If not, then you can always come and sit with me, and I’m sure no one will mind if we leave early, okay?”

“Okaaaay,” she nodded, still looking glum. 

“What about daddy- how do I look?” Lance asked, giving her a twirl and she giggled. 

“Good,” she said with a nod. “But I think you should wear one of these,” she said, picking up a matching hair slide to her own and holding it out for him. 

Lance looked at it doubtfully. 

“Pleeeease, daddy? It’ll make you look beautiful!”

Lance sighed, crouching down in front of her and letting her slide it into his hair. “How’s that?”

“There, you’re a pretty princess now, daddy,” she smiled, kissing his nose. 

“Thank you very much, darling,” Lance smiled, standing back up and holding out his hand. “Now, is there anything you wanted to put in the car to bring before we go?”

“Um…” she made a noise of deliberation, before darting off to her room and coming back with a backpack. “I packed last night.”

“Of course you did,” Lance laughed softly. “Right, shall we be off then? Have you been to the bathroom?”

“Yesssss, dad,” she whined. 

“Okay, I’ve got snacks and music, so let’s go,” he said, taking her hand and leading her out to the car, strapping her into her carseat in the back and getting into the driver's seat. 

It was going to be at least a two hour trip, but it was worth it. He hadn’t seen his friends in a few years now at least. They didn’t often get together, since they’d left college and life had sort of… happened… they’d all but fallen out of contact. They had a group chat that Pidge had set up for them that occasionally one of them would say something in, and that would spark up a conversation for the rest of the day, but then things would go back to normal. It was okay, everyone had their lives and Lance understood that; hell, even Lance had almost been too busy with work to make this thing. But seeing his friends was important, so he’d managed to postpone his meeting to take the day off and come and see them. He was excited. He was more excited than Evie was, at least. 

It didn’t take them too long to get to Keith and Allura’s new house, and the time passed quickly with the music on and Evie chattering away in the back of the car. When they pulled up, he could already see Hunk’s car in the drive, which meant that he was the last to arrive. He got out, unbuckling Evie and taking her backpack for her, and knocking on the front door. 

He was immediately enveloped in a warm hug by Allura and ushered inside to where everyone was gathered in the living room. Lance felt instantly happy and relaxed at the sight of his old friends, letting each of them hug him tightly (and forcing one upon Keith, which he actually quite eagerly returned), and then came Evie’s turn of shyly hiding behind Lance’s legs while everyone told her how much she’d grown and how pretty she was. 

Belle toddled up to her shyly after a few moments, tapping her on the arm and looking up at her with big eyes. 

Lance and Evie shared a look. “Hi Belle,” Evie said with a small smile. “It’s good to see you.”

Belle lit up at that, grinning up at her. “Do you wanna play?” she asked and Lance nodded encouragingly at her. 

Lance watched with a smile as Evie grabbed up her backpack and followed Belle up the stairs to her room. Hopefully now that Belle was a little older, the two would be able to play nicely together. He remembered the last (and first) time they’d met, when Evie had been super excited to meet the new baby, only to find that she was in fact a baby, and so therefore was really boring and did nothing but sleep and cry. 

Allura gave Lance a glass of wine, and he settled down on one of the sofa’s next to Hunk, who lifted an arm for Lance to snuggle under, holding him close. 

“I missed you,” Hunk said, and Lance smiled. 

“I missed you too, buddy,” he replied and Hunk gave him a squeeze. 

“Evie’s so big now, I can’t believe it,” he said. “Really shows you just how much time has passed, huh? How old is she now?”

“Coming up for eight next month,” Lance said, blowing out a breath. 

“Wow… I think the last time we saw her she must have been five,” Hunk said sadly. 

“Yeah…” Lance said, biting his lip. “Well, now that Keith and Allura are a sort of middle ground between us, hopefully we can all meet up more. I haven’t meant to keep being stuck out where I am, just… time gets away from you, you know? With Evie’s school, and work and everything, moving just hasn’t been on the agenda.”

“I get it, man, I do,” Hunk nodded. “I mean, we’ve been up to our eyes back at home. Though I _am_ insisting you come up to visit our restaurant at _least_ once.”

“Of course,” Lance said with a soft laugh. “I promise.”

The afternoon was nice and uneventful for the most part, everyone exchanging stories of how they were doing and what was going on in their lives and Lance couldn’t have been happier. That was, until the doorbell went. Who else were they expecting? Everyone was already here.

“I’m so sorry I’m late, I got caught up, and the traffic was hell,” came a sheepish voice as Allura went to open the door. 

“Don’t worry about it, darling, you’re here now,” she smiled back, leading him inside. 

Lance didn’t have to look to know who it was; he’d know that voice anywhere. It was Shiro. Shiro as in his ex boyfriend Shiro that he’d been desperately in love with and convinced he was going to marry Shiro- that Shiro. He’d only seen Shiro a handful of times since their break up - at weddings, and things. It had always been a kind of awkward half smile and a wave. He’d of course been Keith’s best man, and despite Lance having been heavily involved with that wedding, he’d managed to steer pretty clear of him. 

They hadn’t exactly… ended things on good terms. It had been a screaming match, really. Things had been falling apart fast and with the end of college approaching, in which everyone would be going their separate ways… it no longer seemed like Lance and Shiro were envisioning the same version of their future together. They should have dealt with it better, that’s something that Lance has always regretted, because some of his happiest memories were with Shiro. He was at the happiest point in his life when he was with Shiro, and so having that… tainted has always left a bad taste in his mouth. They shouted and cried until there was nothing left to be said. They’d got it all out and decided then and there that it was over.

They’d barely seen each other after that, and now it had been… nearly fifteen years or something. Lance wasn’t bitter about it anymore, of course, nor did he hold it against him. He’d moved on, he’d been in love again and he’d been fucked over again, and again, and eventually he’d just stopped looking. He had his daughter to worry about, anyway. He didn’t have time to worry about things like love. 

And yet here Shiro was, looking completely different, but wearing that exact same sheepish smile, cheeks flushed red as he said hello. Lance wasn’t sure how long it had been for the rest of them, but he figured it had still been quite a long time. Shiro was… he wasn’t the Shiro that Lance remembered. Lance didn’t even know where to start. The hair- the arm- the scars…? What had happened to him? 

“Hi everyone,” he smiled as he came in and Lance was desperately trying to arrange his face into something of a smile back, but he was pretty sure it was still the same old unadulterated _shock_. 

Their eyes met for a moment, and then Shiro looked away, turning his attention to someone else, and Lance was grateful. He hadn’t been prepared for this yet, today. He hadn’t been prepared for this, well… ever. Shiro and his time with him had been nice and neatly packed into a little box inside his memories and Lance would have very much liked to keep him there. But here he was, standing in the living room. 

“I didn’t know he was coming,” Lance murmured to Hunk and Hunk gave him a sheepish smile. 

“Allura wasn’t sure you’d still come if you did.”

“It’s been like fifteen years, I’m fine,” Lance said with a huff. “I wouldn’t miss seeing you guys for the world.”

Shiro sat down in an empty seat, and conversation began to start back up. It carried on like that for a good hour or so, Shiro talking to Keith and Pidge, and Allura and Hunk talking to him, it was fine, despite them not even having exchanged a greeting. It was fine. 

It was fine until Keith announced that they should get the barbeque started, and he and Hunk went outside to make a start, while Allura grabbed Pidge to help her bring some of the food outside. Lance didn’t know why Shiro didn’t go with them, hell, he didn’t know why _he_ didn’t go with them, but he couldn’t help feeling like it was orchestrated to get them to talk. He supposed that wasn’t too much of an awful idea; things would get pretty awkward pretty fast, if he and Shiro just… refused to talk to one another. 

“Hey,” Shiro said softly, snapping Lance out of his thoughts as Shiro moved to sit next to him on the couch. “Nice hair slide.”

Lance’s eyes widened, quickly grabbing the butterfly clip out of his hair and putting it down on the coffee table. “Kids, you know?” he said with a small laugh. 

Shiro nodded. “Yeah, I can’t believe how big Belle is now, I haven’t really seen her since she was born,” he said with a small frown. 

“Yeah, seems like no ones really seen you at all,” Lance said and then winced. “I didn’t mean that like- I just meant-”

“It’s okay. I know I haven’t exactly made the effort to see anyone. I’ve been… all over the country with work, really, but I moved back down here about six months ago.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I mean I needed a new place, I’ve been kind of um, apartment hopping for a few years now.”

“Oh,” Lance said with a small frown. He’d always pictured Shiro as being madly successful and living in a nice big house with his nice trophy husband and their fourteen dogs. 

That was a wedding he’d missed. 

“How is um- things?” he asked, deciding not to ask so outrightly. 

Shiro laughed softly. “They’re okay,” he said with a slow nod. “They’re, yeah. I mean work’s good.”

“That’s good,” Lance said. “How is… Curtis?” 

“He’s okay,” Shiro said, looking down. “We um, we split up a couple of years ago now, so that’s why I’ve only just moved into a new place.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” Lance said. 

“It’s okay,” Shiro said, shaking his head. “It had been over for a while, and we’re still friends,” he explained. “How is um- I’m sorry, I don’t know who you’re with,” he said sheepishly. 

Lance laughed lightly. “I’m not with anyone,” he said. 

“Oh,” Shiro said with a frown. “Really?” he asked as if he couldn’t quite believe that. 

“I’m flattered, but no,” Lance laughed, shaking his head. 

Shiro opened his mouth, about to say something, but was cut off by the girls practically flying down the stairs and into the living room. 

“Daddy, daddy, can we play dress up?” Evie asked excitedly, before narrowing her eyes and pouting at him. “You took your clip out, don’t you like it?”

“Of course I do, do you wanna put it back in for me?” Lance asked and she nodded, picking it back up off of the table and sliding it into Lance’s hair. “Thank you. And why don’t you go and ask Auntie Allura when foods gonna be ready, hm? You can always play dress up after we’ve eaten.”

She nodded, grabbing Belle’s hand and leading her out into the garden. Shiro’s mouth was open when Lance looked back to him. 

“That’s- your-”

“Yeah,” Lance said, biting his lip. Shiro really had no idea he had a child? He really _hadn’t_ been in contact with anyone much, then. 

“Are you divorced then, or…?” he asked tentatively. 

“We were never married,” Lance said, shaking his head. “I wanted the baby and she didn’t, so… after acting like she’d changed her mind, she did just that - had the baby, gave her to me and took off.”

“That’s awful,” Shiro said with a frown. 

Lance shrugged. “It is what it is, but I wouldn’t change it.”

“Of course,” Shiro nodded. “I just- wow, I had no idea.”

“Yeah, I mean, you and Curtis never…?”

Shiro shrugged. “I don’t know, we talked about it a few times, we were never sort of… the right match to be parents, I felt. I don’t know, I always wanted to be a dad, but… it never felt right.”

Lance nodded. “I know what you mean. Well, at least you’ve got the chance for that now, huh?”

Shiro gave a small smile and nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. I do.”

“Mommy says you gotta come out now,” Belle said, popping her head around the patio door.

Lance stood up, catching himself before he offered his hand to Shiro, who was fully capable of standing up on his own, and they both made their way outside to where Hunk was serving the freshly barbecued food. Everyone sat around the table, Keith helping Belle to cut up her food into bite sized little pieces, and Evie denied all of Lance’s attempts to help - only finally letting Hunk, as he was the “chef”.

The day went by smoothly after that, everyone enjoying the summer evening weather, the girls going back upstairs to play dress up, and coming back down with fairy wings, tutus and wands, casting magical spells all over the adults and one very unamused cat, which quickly slunk away to find a place to sleep. 

“I think Evie and I are gonna have to head back soon, it’s a pretty long drive,” Lance said regretfully as the sun began to set. 

Keith went with the girls upstairs to get changed and gather Evie’s things, before bringing them both back down to say goodbye. 

“Can I um, give you my number?” Shiro asked Lance softly while everyone was busy tidying up outside. 

Lance opened his mouth and closed it again. “Sure,” he said, unsure of why Shiro would want to, but not all that entirely reluctant to accept it, either. He let Shiro put it in his phone, watching the small smile on his face. 

“It was really good to see you,” he said earnestly. 

“You too,” Lance smiled. “I’m glad you came.”

“Me too,” Shiro said, looking down with a small smile. “Well, I’ll hopefully see you soon then?”

“Yeah,” Lance nodded. “Hopefully.”

They bid goodbye to everyone else, and Lance strapped Evie into the back of the car, keeping the music soft and low for the journey back, Evie falling asleep not even twenty minutes in. 

***

Life went back to normal after that, Evie went back to school, and Lance went back to work, and he forgot all about Shiro’s number in his phone, pretty much forgot all about having reconnected with him at all. Weeks passed, and the get together was nothing more than all the others in the past had been. 

Until something changed that, of course. Lance was on his break and had popped down to the coffee shop to get a coffee and a snack. 

Everything was going smoothly until his phone went off; it was Evie’s school. Lance fumbled with his phone, trying to get it out and answer it, crashing into someone on the street, coffee going everywhere, the person he’d bashed into completely soaked through. 

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry- Shiro?” Lance asked, eyes wide. 

Shiro looked back at him, mouth agape, shirt dripping and soaked through. “Lance-?”

“I’m so sorry, oh my god,” Lance said, throwing the now almost empty cup in the bin and looking at Shiro in dismay. “What are you doing here?”

“I live here, what are you doing here?” 

“You what?” Lance asked, eyes widening further. “You can’t live here, _I_ live here.”

The two stared at each other for another few moments. “Well not _here_ here, maybe twenty minutes away,” Shiro amended and Lance sighed, biting his lip. 

“Okay, come with me, I’ll get you something to wear,” he said, taking Shiro’s arm and leading him down the street. “I have to get that call, it was school,” he said, getting his phone back out and re-dialling. 

Shiro nodded, letting Lance lead him down the street. 

“Hi, this is Lance McClain, Evie’s father?” he said. “Yes, I’m sorry I just missed your call, is everything alright?” he said. 

“I’ve got Evie here, she seems to be feeling a little under the weather, would it be possible for you to come and collect her at all this afternoon?”

“Um- yes, yes, of course. I’ll be there in half an hour, is that alright?” 

“Of course, I’ll tell her,” the nurse said and Lance nodded, ending the call. 

Lance grabbed his keys out of his pocket, leading shiro up to his apartment and opening the door, heading into his bedroom and pulling Shiro in after him. 

“Were you at work? Did you need a proper shirt?” Lance asked, frowning. 

“Anything’s fine,” Shiro said, shaking his head and Lance pulled out a shirt from his drawer, handing it to him. 

“You can use the shower if you want, I’ll wash your shirt, I’m so sorry,” he said. 

“Lance, it’s fine,” Shiro said. “Don’t worry about it.”

Lance nodded distractedly, getting his phone back out. “Hi, yes, it’s Lance McClain- I’ve just had a call I have to go and pick my daughter up from school.”

“Right…” the person on the other end of the phone said doubtfully. “Are you able to get someone else to do it? You're due back here in just under ten minutes.”

“Not really,” Lance said, frowning. “I don’t have anyone else that can do it.”

“I could do it…?” Shiro asked, biting his lip.

“You could? Really?” Lance asked, snapping his head up to look at him. 

“Of course,” he nodded. “Just let me know where the school is and I can bring her back here and stay with her.” 

“You’re amazing,” Lance said with a grateful smile. “Okay, I’ll be back in ten,” Lance said into his phone and ended the call. “You really would?”

“Lance, of course,” Shiro said. “I’m not busy, I was just in town. It’s fine.”

“You really are a lifesaver,” Lance said gratefully, handing Shiro his keys. “I’ll text you the address to put in your gps? Did you drive here, do you want to take my car?”

“If you don’t mind,” Shiro said, biting his lip. 

Lance thrust his keys at him, and then walked back down with him to put the address into the gps. Once Shiro was set to go and pick her up he rushed back towards his work, getting the school back on the phone to let them know that a friend would be coming to collect her. 

Lance finally took a breath once he was back at his desk, minus a coffee, and feeling significantly more stressed, but it seemed to have been a blessing that he’d bumped into Shiro anyway, because he would likely be facing an unpaid afternoon if he had to take the afternoon off. His work had never been very forgiving when it came to accommodating children, but there wasn’t much that Lance could do about it. 

He managed somehow to stay focused for the rest of his day, making his way home and knocking on the door after realising that he didn’t have any keys with him. 

Evie opened the door with a grin, dressed in one of Lance’s sweaters which was practically swallowing her whole. 

“Hi, baby,” Lance said as he came in, crouching down to envelop her in a hug. “How are you feeling?”

“Okay…” she said, though her voice sounded a little croaky. 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t come and get you, princess,” he said with a frown. 

“It’s okay, daddy,” she smiled. “Shiro’s really nice.”

“I’m glad.”

“Hi,” Shiro said and Lance looked up to see him standing in the kitchen doorway. He had Evie’s fairy princess apron on, and Lance bit back a grin. 

“Hi,” he smiled. 

“I uh, hope you don’t mind, Evie was hungry,” he said with a sheepish smile. 

“Of course not,” Lance said, standing up and shaking his head. “No, thank you, really.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Shiro smiled. 

“Reall, though,” Lance said earnestly. “You have absolutely _no_ reason to be doing any of this, I mean- I ruined your shirt, I completely totalled your day, and now I’m putting you to work.”

Shiro laughed softly. “Lance, you’re always going to be special to me, okay?” he said and Lance looked down with a small flush. “I’m more than happy to help out an old friend.”

“I’ll buy you a new shirt,” Lance said softly. 

“You don’t have to do that,” Shiro said, shaking his head. “I’m sure it’ll clean up just fine.”

Shiro headed back into the kitchen after that to finish up dinner, and Lance went to get changed. Evie persuaded Lance to let them eat on the sofa watching tv, and he agreed, but _only_ because she wasn’t feeling well. 

Shiro served up the food and they all sat down together, putting a movie on and eating in a comfortable silence. 

It was strange. In a kind of nice way, and a kind of unsettling way. It was strange because this was what Lance had been thinking about, back when they were eighteen and he was feeling like he was going to be with Shiro forever; back when he pictured them having a family it was something like this. Something like sitting on a comfy couch watching tv with their child and eating some food. Except Evie wasn’t Shiro’s child, and Shiro wasn’t Lance’s husband, and they hadn’t seen each other for around twelve years. It was nice in a bittersweet kind of way, because this was everything that eighteen year old Lance would have wanted, except this wasn’t what they had. Lance had been left with a baby, and Shiro was newly divorced, and they weren’t together. 

Lance still had no idea what had happened to Shiro. When he’d lost his arm, or what had happened. What had gone wrong with his marriage to make it fall apart, why he hadn’t found anyone new, yet. 

Lance put Evie to bed not long after they finished, as she was practically falling asleep in Lance’s lap. He tucked her in, thankfully she was too tired to demand a story, and so he made his way back down to Shiro. 

“Do you wanna stay for a bit? Have a glass of wine or something?” he asked softly, looking to where Shiro was still sitting on the sofa. 

Shiro bit his lip. “Just one?” he asked with a smile. “I shouldn’t stay too long.”

Lance nodded, going into the kitchen and pouring them each a glass, before bringing them back out and sitting down next to him on the sofa, handing it to him. 

“So, you haven’t asked yet…” Shiro said after a few moments. 

“About?” Shiro lifted his arm and Lance looked down. “Right. I was… waiting for the right moment, I guess.”

“It was uh, seven years ago now, I guess. Car accident. Matt’s company was working on some prosthetics, this was a tester so I got it at a good price, as long as I was subject to some… well, testing. It’s still going okay, though.”

Lance bit his lip. “That’s lucky then, that Matt could sort that out for you.”

“Yeah,” Shiro nodded. “I know. What about you then…?” he asked, taking a sip of wine. “It’s been a long twelve years.”

Lance laughed softly. “It has. I’m not sure my life’s been as eventful as yours, I’m afraid. Ever since I had Evie everything’s been about her.”

“What about you?” Shiro asked, tilting his head and Lance met his eyes. “What do you want?”

Lance averted his eyes. “I don’t… really know. I just want her to be happy, and to have the best life that she possibly can.”

Shiro frowned. “And what if you didn’t have her…? What would you want then?”

“But I do,” Lance said with a small smile. “It’s no use thinking about things I can’t have. I don’t know what I want, and it’s probably better to just be content with the way that things are now.”

“Are you content?” he asked and Lance gave him a look. “Sorry, I don’t mean to pry… I just… wanna know how you’re doing, you know? You were really important to me.”

Lance bit his lip. “You were really important to me, too. I’m sorry I didn’t text, by the way. Things have been… really busy around here.”

“It’s okay,” Shiro replied. “I get it, don’t worry. I wasn’t expecting anything, anyway.”

“We should go and get coffee, though,” Lance said. “Though uh, I’ll try and keep it in the cup this time.”

Shiro laughed. “I’d like that,” he said. “I should get going for now, though.”

Lance nodded, standing up and walking with him to the door. “Does Keith know where you’re living, now?”

Shiro nodded. “Yeah, I’m guessing he didn’t mention it.”

Lance smiled and shook his head. “No, when you said you moved this way, I assumed you meant nearer to them, or to Hunk and Pidge. Evie and I are a little out of the way here.”

“It’s a nice area,” Shiro reasoned. “I mean, I picked it.”

“Yeah, I’ve been meaning to move for… like five years, but never got around to it. It is nice though, and Evie likes her school.”

“Well, I for one am glad you stayed,” Shiro said with a small smile. 

“Yeah, me too,” Lance smiled, biting his lip. 

“Text me when you wanna get coffee,” he said, taking a step out and turning around to give him a small wave. 

“I will,” Lance nodded. “And thank you again for today, I’m literally so grateful, you have no idea.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Shiro said, smiling. “I was happy to.”

“I’ll see you soon then,” Lance said, biting his lip and watching as Shiro nodded, walking away and giving him another small wave before he turned around the corner. 

God, he’d missed him. 

***

It was around a week and a half before Lance finally had the time to text Shiro about that coffee. He hadn’t realised just how easily time slipped away from day to day until he had something like that that he’d been meaning to do. Really, he still was too busy but something Shiro had said had stuck out in his mind - “what about you? What do you want?” Lance wanted to go out for a coffee. 

So he texted Shiro, making a little time at the weekend, seeing as Evie was going to her friends house for a playdate, and usually… Lance would spend any time he had off from both work and Evie passed out in bed, though, he was willing to make an exception. They agreed to meet at the very same coffee shop at around about the time that Lance would get back from dropping Evie off, so he parked up, walking in and seeing Shiro sat down at a booth already, a smile lighting up his face as he saw him. 

“Hi,” he smiled as Lance slipped into the booth across from him. 

“Hey, how’re you?” Lance smiled back. 

They made small talk for a little while, and thankfully, all of Lance’s coffee stayed firmly inside of his cup, and then in his mouth. But it was fun - it was really nice catching up with Shiro again. 

They ordered another coffee, neither of them quite ready to say goodbye yet, and then a slice of cake each on top of that. Shiro offered to pay when they were finally ready to go, but Lance stopped him. 

“It’s not a date,” Lance said, shaking his head. “Let’s just go halves, okay?”

Shiro reluctantly nodded, and they paid the bill. “Do you wanna uh… I dunno, do something else?”

“Now?” Lance asked, biting his lip. 

Shiro gave a small nod, looking apprehensive. 

“I’d love to,” he said softly. “But I’ve got a few errands to run before I pick Evie up, so I’d better get them done. We should do this again though, yeah?”

“For sure,” Shiro nodded, smiling up at him and Lance smiled back, giving him a small wave before exiting the coffee shop and getting back into his car. 

He had… really missed him. 

***

He didn’t see Shiro again for another few weeks, keeping on planning to text him for another coffee date, but life kept getting in the way. It seemed it was the same for Shiro, however, as he hadn’t texted either. 

It was an afternoon that Lance had taken Evie for the exciting adventure that was grocery shopping, and now that she was too big to sit in the cart, he had to deal with her rushing all over the store and firing things into it that shouldn’t have necessarily been going in. 

It was hard enough to do the shopping and remove the extras that Evie kept secretly sneaking in without having to go searching the store for her, too. One moment she was there, the next she was gone. Lance tried to stop the panic from rising too high; it wasn’t as though she hadn’t done this before, and knowing her, she’d probably be in the aisle over looking at the chocolates. Except she wasn’t. And the more aisles Lance looked in, the more worried he became, unable to stop that niggling voice in his head from fearing the worst. 

He flinched as his phone rang, too focused on looking for Evie, getting it out and frowning at it. It was Shiro. Now was… really not a good time. He let it go to voicemail, but he just rang right back, so Lance reluctantly answered. 

“Shiro- now’s really not the best time-“ he started, but Shiro cut him off. 

“What aisle are you in?”

“What?”

“What aisle are you in?”

“Uh… milk?” Lance asked, looking around. 

“Hang on,” Shiro said, hanging up the phone and Lance frowned at it. 

A few moments later he breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Shiro walking towards him, Evie’s hand in his own. 

“Daddy, look who I found!” she said excitedly, pulling Shiro after her. “It’s Shiro! Do you remember Shiro?”

Lance bit back a smile. “I do,” he nodded. “You can’t just run off like that, I was worried sick,” he scolded and Evie bit her lip, looking guilty. 

“Sorry, daddy… I just saw Shiro and I thought- hey, I’d recognise that hair anywhere! And it was him! Can he come over for dinner again?”

“I… Shiro’s probably very busy, honey.”

“He’s not, I already asked him. He said I had to ask you.”

“Well…” Lance said, biting his lip. “Then he can if he’d like to. Would you like to?”

Shiro looked torn between looking guilty and eager. “If that’s okay.”

“It is,” Lance nodded. 

“Then I’d love to.”

“Great,” Lance said. “Any special requests while I’m here?”

Shiro laughed. “I’m good with whatever you guys were gonna have already,” he said, shaking his head. 

“Okay, we’ll uh, see you at… six?”

Shiro nodded. “Okay, six.”

“Bye, Shiro!” Evie said happily, waving to him as they parted ways. 

“You shouldn’t just invite people to dinner without talking to me about it first, honey,” Lance scolded lightly and Evie looked guiltily up at him. 

“But you and Shiro are friends, right?”

“I mean… kind of.”

“Shiro said you two went to school together, and he was at Keith and Allura’s house with all your _other_ friends.”

“Well, by those standards then I guess that makes him my friend. I’ve only seen him twice in about twelve years, though, and that’s nearly twice as long as you’ve been alive for,” Lance said, raising an eyebrow.

“Exactly!” she said excitedly, clapping her hands together. “You and Shiro are friends and so he’s coming to dinner.”

Lance sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I guess.” 

He didn’t really know how to explain to her what he and Shiro were, because he himself didn’t _know_ what he and Shiro were… they weren’t exactly friends, but… It didn’t matter now, he supposed, because Shiro was coming over at six. 

“We’d better get something for dinner then,” Lance said, keeping a firm grip on Evie as he lead her down another aisle. 

“Pizza!”

“No.”

“ _Pizza!_ ”

“ _No_.”

Eventually Lance managed to drag Evie away from the pizza aisle and to the check out, having picked up a few other bits, and they made the trip home. Lance wasn’t exactly thrilled about having Shiro so impromptuly invited over for dinner, but he also wasn’t angry about it, either. He was maybe… looking forward to it? 

Shiro was a strange area in Lance’s mind. Because on the one hand, thinking about him was a little awkward, because they were ex’s. Thinking about him was strange, because they’d only seen each other a handful of times in twelve years, and so Shiro was practically a stranger. And yet, from the way that he’d used to know him, and the feelings that he’d used to have… getting to know Shiro again was easy. It was comfortable, talking to him, letting him in, even just having him around. And then there was the part of Lance’s mind trying to fight that, because Shiro was his _ex_. Could he still really keep Shiro in that box after so many years, though? Surely enough time had passed now that he could just… call Shiro a friend? 

He was a friend, in a way, he supposed, and having your friends over for dinner was something that people tended to do every now and again. Except, Lance rarely had time for “friends”, since he spent his week working, and his weekends with his daughter, there was never much time to do anything else. He was friendly with a couple of colleagues, but nothing more than just _friendly_ , and there certainly weren’t any he’d have over for dinner. Go out for a drink with after a long week, perhaps, though Lance had never had that luxury, because child care was expensive, and Lance couldn’t waste his money on things like that, and he’d much rather spend the evening with Evie, anyway. 

To say that Lance’s social life was severely lacking would be an understatement. Lance knew that. He was a tad embarrassed about it, maybe, but he didn’t _mind_. Lance had been ever the social butterfly back in their college days, but now he was content with trying to make his and Evie’s little life as good as possible. He had to be. He just wanted Evie to have a good life; that was all that mattered. There was no time for any of Shiro’s nonsense about “what do you want” or anything like that. Lance just wanted Evie to have a good life. That’s what he wanted. And Evie wanted to have Shiro over for dinner, and Lance liked Shiro, he cared about Shiro, and so that was that. Shiro was coming over for dinner. 

It was a Friday, so he could afford the time, settling Evie in her room with her homework while he got to work in the kitchen. He’d always tried to teach Evie to do her homework as soon as she got it, despite still not having very much at her young age, he knew from experience that leaving things until the last minute was a very difficult habit to break. 

Lance liked cooking. It had sort of been instilled into him to like cooking ever since he and Hunk had been roommates in college, and the apartment had been filled with the most wonderful smells every evening, and Lance would be chief taste tester. Soon after that Hunk had let him start helping a little, even teaching him some of the recipes. When he’d gone home, his mother had been delighted at his new found interest, and made sure to put him to work over the holidays, too, and so Lance was good at cooking. It was something he could do to relax - take a few hours out to prep, listen to some music in the background and make something that tasted delicious, too. He wasn’t making anything too fancy tonight, as after turning down pizza, Evie had firmly requested his chicken pasta, and absolutely refused to budge. 

It was almost ready when the doorbell rang, and Evie was already scarpering down the hall to answer it before Lance could get out of the kitchen, and so he let her; her enthusiasm very sweet. He heard them talking to each other as they came down the hall, Evie leading Shiro into the kitchen. 

“Hey, Lance,” he said and Lance turned around a smile tugging at his lips. 

“Hi,” Lance said, taking in his appearance. It wasn’t fancy, or anything - it was only dinner, after all, but Lance had forgotten how well Shiro could clean up, and he was just as attractive as he had been when they were twenty-two. 

“I brought these,” he said, holding up a bottle of wine, and a bottle of something else. “I didn’t know what you liked, but, uh…”

“Shiro, they’re perfect,” Lance said, taking them from him and having a look. “Thank you.” 

He’d brought a bottle of white wine, and a bottle of something that was supposed to resemble wine but non alcoholic, for children so that they wouldn’t feel left out. It was really sweet of him to think of it, actually. 

“Evie, honey, would you set the table for me?” Lance asked and Evie nodded enthusiastically, getting things out with a practised ease and setting the table up. 

Their apartment wasn’t the biggest, so it was only the kitchen table, which meant that the room would be overly warm from cooking by the time they came to sit down, but it was alright. Lance had been half heartedly trying to find a place for them to move into for a few years now, but he’d never seriously been looking. He was fond of their apartment, despite the fact that it was small, and they weren’t allowed any pets, and it was the only place that Evie had ever called home. Lance remembered when he first moved in; not yet thirty and already a single dad with a newborn baby. This was all he’d been able to afford at the time, and it had served them well, so despite knowing that by now they were probably in need of something a little bigger, he was reluctant to leave while they were both still happy here. 

She tugged Shiro to sit down, and Lance dishes up the food and served it up, bringing it to the table and pouring them their drinks, bringing that too before joining them, sitting down. 

“Thank you, daddy,” Evie said with a smile as she picked up her cutlery. “And thank you Shiro.”

“You’re most welcome,” Shiro smiled at her, picking up his glass and raising it to Lance. Lance clinked them together, and watched with fond amusement as Evie rushed to do the same. “And thank _you_ , Lance,” Shiro said. “For having me, and for dinner.”

“It’s alright,” Lance smiled, taking a sip of his wine. “We’re glad to have you, aren’t we, Evie?”

“Uh huh! You’re my new best friend, Shiro,” Evie said with a grin. “I like you ‘cause you have really cool hair.”

Shiro chuckled. “Well, thank you. I’m glad you think so.”

Lance watched the interaction amusedly; Evie was quite taken with him, and had been ever since he’d picked her up from school. She was right though, it was nice having him here. Lance listened as Evie chattered on as they ate, Shiro engaging with her animatedly. 

After dinner, Evie insisted that Shiro stay a little longer to watch some tv before bed, and he agreed, the three of them settling down on the couch while Evie flipped through the channels, trying to find something to settle on. 

They watched tv until Evie was dozing off between them, snuggled up against Shiro’s side, though Lance felt no jealousy as he would have expected, just looked at them with a soft smile. Eventually, Lance relieved him of her, scooping Evie up into his arms and carrying her to bed. She stirred a little, waking up to let Lance help her change into her pyjamas, but falling quickly back asleep once she was tucked up in bed. 

He padded back into the lounge, Shiro still curled up on the sofa, dimly lit by the light of the television. Shiro looked up as he came in, giving him a smile. 

“Hey,” Lance said softly, sitting back down next to him. 

“Hey,” Shiro echoed and they sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments. “I should probably head out,” he said, biting his lip. 

“You could stay,” Lance offered. “Have a glass of wine, or something.”

Shiro looked at him and a beat passed. “I’d like that,” he said with a small smile. 

Lance stood up, walking into the kitchen to open a bottle, bringing it back out along with some wine glasses and pouring them both one out. Shiro took it from him, gently clinking it against Lance’s before taking a sip. 

“I’m still surprised no one mentioned you’d moved here,” Lance said after a moment. 

Shiro hummed. “Well, I suppose they didn’t want to make it awkward.”

“Awkward? It’s been like twelve years,” Lance said, rolling his eyes. “I think it’s safe to say we’re over it.”

“Yeah,” Shiro said with a soft chuckle. “I don’t know. I guess like they didn’t tell you I was going to be there when we met up.”

“They told you I would be?” Lance asked, looking at him.

“Yeah,” Shiro nodded. “I guess they thought you wouldn’t come, or something.”

Lance scoffed. “It’s been twelve years. What reason would I have not to come?”

“I don’t know,” Shiro said with a small shrug. 

“Why did they tell you and not me?” Lance asked, frowning. 

“I don’t know,” Shiro said again. 

Lance took a long sip of his wine and made a non committal sound. “Oh well, it doesn’t matter, I suppose. Would’ve run into you either way,” he said with a soft snort. 

“That’s true,” Shiro chuckled. “You do a really good job, you know,” he said and Lance gave him a quizzical look. “Of bringing up Evie by yourself. You’ve got a lot on your plate, but you do really well.”

“Oh,” Lance said, feeling his cheeks heat a little. “Well, thanks. I can only try my best for her.”

“It must be hard.”

“It is,” Lance said softly. “I never… pictured myself as a single parent, I guess. I always thought when I had kids I’d have a _family_. But… we are a family. It’s hard, but we’re happy.”

Lance glanced up to find Shiro looking at him with a soft expression, and neither of them spoke for a few moments. 

“I’m glad that we’re back in touch,” Shiro murmured at last, sipping his wine. “I really… missed you.”

“I missed you too,” Lance admitted. “I thought we’d always be in each other’s lives, and then… suddenly we didn’t see each other for twelve years.”

“Yeah,” Shiro said with a small frown. “I always thought that, too. You were my best friend.”

“I won’t tell Keith,” Lance joked. “You were mine, too,” he added quietly after a beat. 

“I’m… I’m glad that we can be friends again,” Shiro said and Lance met his gaze. 

“Me too,” he replied and they shared a smile.

“I probably should be heading out for real in a minute, though,” Shiro said regretfully and Lance nodded. 

“Of course,” he said. “We’ll do this again though, right?”

“Yes,” Shiro smiled. “We’ll do this again. We should get coffee again too.”

“I’d like that.”

Shiro drank the last bit of wine from his glass and then stood up, Lance doing the same and walking with him to the door. 

“Thank you for having me over,” he said, lingering in the doorway. “And for dinner.”

“It’s no problem,” Lance smiled. “We were glad to have you.”

Shiro smiled almost bashfully, averting his eyes. “I’ll see you soon?”

“For sure,” Lance nodded, and then Shiro gave him a little wave, turning to go. 

Lance watched him as he turned the corner and closed the door as he went back into their apartment. He flopped back down onto the sofa and poured himself another glass of wine, closing his eyes with a soft sigh, laying back against the sofa. 

This could be a good thing. Being friends with Shiro could be good. Lance and Shiro had never really just been friends before, so Lance wasn’t entirely sure how they should go about it; there had always been something more. It would be okay, he was sure. He and Shiro could be friends. Lance was desperately in need of a friend - it was lonely, living all the way out here and raising his daughter alone. He had a few colleagues he was friendly with, but could never really go out for drinks with because of Evie. His closest friends were Keith and Allura, and that had been a trip to get up there. Pidge and Hunk lived further than that, too. 

Lance was lonely. He could admit it, sure. He’d been desperately lonely for far too long and having someone to sit on his couch with and drink wine with in the evening was… really nice. He didn’t have to worry about getting to know Shiro, either, as he’d once known everything about the man. Of course, twelve years was a long time and no doubt Lance now knew not half as much as he once had, but the same would go for Shiro, too. They could maybe get to know each other again, and be friends again.

Lance was carefully avoiding the fact that they’d used to be in love in his mind, because he knew that nothing good could come from thinking about it. He was well aware of the attraction they’d shared from the day they’d met, and that they’d started dating - or flirting, at least - almost immediately. But Lance wasn’t in a position for that right now, and to even think about it- to suggest that Shiro also shared those thoughts, was presumptuous and frankly, egotistical of him. Lance was too busy for that anyway, too tired. What he needed right now was a friend, and he and Shiro could be friends, he knew they could. He’d once been Lance’s best friend, along with all of the extra things, but that was what was important. 

***

Lance started making more of an effort after that. Having Shiro back in his life was something of a happy accident, and whereas before he was too tired to even think about meeting up with a friend after work or at the weekends, often now Shiro met him in his coffee break with a coffee and a pastry, and they’d go for a little walk together or sit in the coffee shop and have a chat. It was easy. It was _enjoyable_. Shiro had been over a few times more in the evenings, too. It was more practical with Evie, than going to his, but Shiro insisted on cooking on one occasion, and paying for a take out on another. 

Shiro was somehow slotted seamlessly into Lance and Evie’s lives, and it had only been a few weeks - pushing a month or so, but now Lance could scarcely imagine it without him. If he had to face going to work every day, and knowing he wouldn’t be able to sit with Shiro for half an hour, or know that he’d be over for dinner at least one night a week and that after they’d put Evie to bed they’d put a film on and have some wine, half watching it, half talking the night away. 

So far, they hadn’t made any plans at the weekend, Lance figuring that Shiro wanted to respect his time off and to spend with his daughter, but Lance _wanted_ him around. 

Lance could hear the surprise in Shiro’s voice when he asked if he wanted to do something at the weekend with him and Evie, but he had of course agreed. Shiro suggested that they do something fun together that Evie would enjoy, and after talk of the movies, Shiro suggested bowling, and Evie was sold. Evie had only been bowling once before, and it had been a couple of years ago now when she was too little to really play properly or enjoy it, so she was beyond excited, and claiming that Shiro was her best friend in the whole wide world which made Lance laugh. She guiltily added that Lance was her daddy, so he just _couldn’t_ be her best friend, but he _was_ the best daddy in the world. 

Shiro had offered to meet them there and get them lunch before bowling, and honestly, Lance wasn’t entirely sure what Shiro did for a living, but whatever it was it must have paid well, because he was always treating them to this and that, and wouldn’t even hear a word about it. Shiro had no reason to treat them like that, he had no reason to buy them all dinners every week or take them out to do fun things - it wasn’t as though they were dating. But Shiro did know that Lance wasn’t… struggling, per se, but he wasn’t as comfortable financially as he would have liked to be at this point in his life. He felt a little awkward about it, but Shiro played it down so much that it was okay - he did at least let Lance pay for their coffee’s on their coffee dates, sometimes. 

Lance gave into Evie’s pleas on the way, letting her listen to all the Disney movie soundtracks on loop in the car that she wanted, and it would have been a lie to say that he wasn’t singing along with her. He knew all the words just as well as she did, and she always liked to do the duets with him - telling him he made a very good prince charming to whichever princess she was being at the time. Today she wanted to do four run-throughs of A Whole New World, before she was satisfied, and decided to move onto The Lion King. Lance didn’t mind in the least, glad that Evie was such a happy child, and eager to do such things with him, as he knew that it wouldn’t be too long before she would consider herself too old for that kind of thing, and then it would be a many number of years before she realised that you’re _never_ to old for Disney. 

Shiro was already in the restaurant when Lance and Evie got there, and a big grin lit up his face as he saw them walk in. Evie rushed over to him and threw her arms around him in a big hug, Lance feeling his heart swell a little, as he and Shiro shared a quick hug and friendly chaste kiss on the cheek. Evie immediately started chattering away as soon as they were seated, and Lance watched fondly as Shiro engaged animatedly with her. He was always so good with her, and he’d never seen her take to someone so quickly. Of course there were his friends, but she’d known them since birth, despite not seeing them all that often, so they were more like a family that lived slightly further away than anything. Whereas Shiro was someone she hadn’t met that long ago, yet they got on really well. 

After eating they went to the bowling alley, changing into their shoes and going to their lane, Lance getting them a few snacks while Shiro was distracted by Evie dragging him to the arcade that was attached. He quickly ushered her back, because they only had so long, and started playing. Evie had the bumpers up, which initially she was sceptical about, but after Shiro successfully failed a few rounds, she was very happy indeed that she was in the lead. Shiro and Lance took turns helping her with her aim, and she quickly won the first game, putting them to shame. She insisted on having the bumpers off for the second round, which Lance was a little concerned about, not wanting her to get disheartened if it didn’t go well, but she seemed in good spirits, anyway. 

“That’s my ball,” Shiro said, raising an eyebrow as Lance picked it up, and his lips curled into a grin. 

“I didn’t know we _owned_ the balls, Shiro,” he replied. 

“I think you just want a bit of my winning luck,” Shiro grinned and Lance snorted.

“Winning?” he asked. “Honey, you’re losing,” he teased, pointing at the board. “I’m merely going to show you that it’s not the ball, it’s just you.”

Shiro put a hand over his chest, wounded, as Lance went up and rolled the ball, knocking almost all of the pins down. He looked back at Shiro with a catlike grin, who pouted back. Lance and Evie exchanged a high five as she went up to take her turn, Lance helping her aim it down the lane, and she knocked half the pins down. 

“Wow me, Shirogane,” Lance murmured as he brushed past him, Shiro picking up the ball and heading up for his turn. 

It was cute how much he was concentrating, clearly not wanting to be so utterly slaughtered by Lance and his eight year old, but when it came down to it, he only knocked over three pins, his ball veering off at the last moment. He huffed, brows pinching together and Lance bit back a smile. 

“Better luck next time,” he teased as he went up for his turn again, and Shiro busied himself going to the bar to get more snacks. 

Lance ended up winning the last game easily, with Evie sort of in the middle, and Shiro… desperately losing. Lance wasn’t sure how he was worse at bowling than his eight year old, but he was. He was downright atrocious. He wasn’t a sore loser though, making jokes that he was the butt of, and letting Lance and Evie tease him mercilessly for it, and then letting Evie drag them over to the arcade. He paid for some tokens for them, and Evie immediately went over to the claw machine, trying to win herself a bunny plushie. 

Lance squeaked in surprise as Shiro grabbed onto his hand, dragging him over to the air hockey table and raising an eyebrow at him. Shiro had always been good at air hockey, he remembered. They’d been to the arcade a few times in their early days of dating, but Lance wasn’t sure if Shiro had been much since then to polish his technique, which meant he still had a chance. Maybe if he was a little nicer, Lance would’ve let him win out of courtesy. After all, Shiro had paid for them to come here, and Lance had done nothing but tease him. Shiro had always liked Lance’s competitive spirit, though, and he wasn’t about to give that up now.

The first few minutes were intense, both of them furiously moving their pieces on the table to bat the puck back and forth, and neither of them let it past them for a good few minutes. Eventually, though, it slipped past Shiro and he whined, Lance melting a little. 

“Lost your touch?” he asked teasingly, not letting on how sweet he was finding Shiro’s attitude to be, and Shiro looked at him, narrowing his eyes and placing the puck back on the table. 

“Lucky hit,” he countered, batting it back towards Lance and they continued again, heatedly zooming it around until Lance missed it, and Shiro got the point. 

Lance wasn’t sure quite how long the game lasted, only that it was very intense, and Shiro, ultimately won, playfully bumping Lance’s shoulder with his as he passed him. They went to find Evie, who was still struggling with the claw machine, unable to get a hold of the rabbit she wanted. 

“Those things are rigged, honey,” Lance said apologetically as it dropped again. “Why don’t we try another game?”

“I wanted that one,” she said sadly, pointing through the glass to the purple bunny who was now sadly in a heap, having been dropped by the claw a fair number of times. 

“Let me have a go,” Shiro said, going up to the counter to buy a few more tokens and returning. He put a couple in and started. The first few times were unfruitful, the claw dropping the rabbit as it had before. Shiro narrowed his eyes, trying again and again. 

“Shiro…” Lance said. “Don’t waste your money.”

“I can do it,” Shiro said stubbornly, putting another token in and trying again.

It was pointless, everyone knew that. It wasn’t suddenly going to be able to hold the rabbit on the thirtieth try, as opposed to the twentieth. Shiro probably could’ve bought one new for her for the amount of times he was trying. Eventually, though, its ear managed to get caught on the end of the claw, and completely by chance, it managed to shake it off just over the box, and Evie was able to fish it out. 

She squealed excitedly, grabbing it up and then throwing her arms around Shiro’s waist, nuzzling him. “Thank you so much,” she said, and Shiro smiled, wrapping an arm around her. 

“You’re most welcome,” he said. 

It was time to head home then, having spent more than enough in the arcade, and they headed out to the car, Shiro walking to Lance’s with them. 

“You can come back with us, if you like,” Lance said with a smile. “I can make us dinner.”

Shiro hesitated, looking torn. “I… are you sure? It’s been a long day.”

“Wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t,” Lance pointed out and a soft smile graced Shiro’s face. 

“Then, I would really like that,” he said. 

Lance strapped Evie into her seat and then got in, watching as Shiro walked over to his own car and then started the journey home, comforted by the fact that Shiro would be there when they got back - he wasn’t quite ready for this day to end yet. 

***

After that Shiro started coming over all the time. Or rather, they started inviting him. Whether it was Evie begging him, because he was the only one that could help her with her math homework, or whether it was Lance offering for him to stay longer, and longer, and then the night. 

They slept in Lance’s bed when Shiro stayed the night, but despite everything, there wasn’t really anything strange about it. Lance figured that he’d finally managed to separate the past from the present, and so when Shiro slept next to him in nothing more than a loose shirt and boxers, his head wasn’t filled with thoughts of how things had been, or how things might have been, at all. Things were just… like this. They just were. 

Shiro slotted into their lives nicely, easily, seamlessly. On his days off he would pick Evie up from school and bring her home to let Lance stay a little longer, cooking dinner to be ready just as Lance got home from work. On Shiro’s work days he’d come over after he got off late, loosening the tie around his neck and using their shower, eating with them and cuddling up on the couch for a few hours watching a movie and relaxing. 

On days that Shiro didn’t come over the house felt empty and cold, and Lance wasn’t sure when that shift had been made, but he didn’t like it. It was the three of them now, whatever exactly that meant. Things were simple and easy and so so good. They would have breakfast in bed on the weekends, and Shiro would make pancakes, or eggs, and then they’d go out to the park or the cinema or the arcade. After Evie was settled in bed they’d sink into the couch with a large glass of wine, talking and talking and talking until they were falling asleep themselves. 

Lance didn’t question it. There was no nag in his mind for more, no ache in his chest. Things were just so good, how could he crave more? When they were already perfect? Nothing had happened between them, but everything was happening, wasn’t it? Friends didn’t do this. Lance and Shiro had never been able to be just friends. But Lance was content, hadn’t even really considered more in more than a passing thought. 

Currently, it was Thursday, which meant that Shiro was back late. Lance and Evie had already eaten, and Shiro’s was keeping warm in the oven. Lance had just finished putting Evie to bed when he heard the door close. Keys that had been exchanged at some point or rather clattering on the side. 

“Hey, I’m home,” Shiro said, popping his head around the kitchen door with a smile, tie already pulled loose.

Lance turned to look at him, breath catching in his throat. “Are you?” he asked. This wasn’t Shiro’s house, Shiro didn’t live here with them, but maybe it was becoming his home as much as Shiro was becoming Lance’s. 

Shiro opened his mouth and closed it again, realising what he’d said. “I-“ he said, breaking off.

Lance filled the gap for him, taking a step towards him and grabbing him by his shirt collar, pulling him in and kissing him. Shiro made a soft sound of surprise, but melted against him, slipping an arm around Lance’s waist and kissing him back with a practiced ease and familiarity that shouldn’t have been so simple after twelve years. Kissing Shiro twelve years later shouldn’t have felt like this, but it did. 

It felt like coming home. 

“What was that for?” Shiro asked breathlessly against his lips, and Lance could feel how wide his smile was pulled. 

Lance pulled back a little to look at him tenderly, fixing where he’d skewed his shirt and slipping a hand up to cup the back of Shiro’s head, stroking his hair. What had that been for? Lance didn’t know what to reply with, so instead leaned in to kiss him again. And again. And again. And again. 

“You know we’re soulmates, right?” Lance murmured, Shiro’s breath hot on his face.

“I’ve always known that,” Shiro murmured back, cupping Lance’s face lovingly as he pressed kiss after kiss after kiss to his lips. 

“We shouldn’t have broken up,” Lance said and Shiro shook his head.

“We needed to,” he said. “Because we had to live our lives up to this point, and you needed Evie, and I needed… all the other crap. But we’re here now,” he said, gently nudging their noses together. “We’re here now, my love.”

“Tell me you love me,” Lance said, lips pulling into a smile, 

Shiro pulled back a little, cradling Lance’s face in his hands and running his eyes over his features. “I have never not loved you, since the day we met, Lance. Loving you is all I know how to do.”

“It’s been twelve years,” Lance said softly. “You didn’t move on... ? You got _married_.”

“How do you move on from the one?” Shiro asked. “Yes, I got married, and I loved him, but… we’re divorced now,” Shiro said. “I might not have been actively loving you, but I have always lived with so many regrets. Just… having you back, even if it wasn’t- like this, even if it was just being in your life, I never would’ve asked for more, as long as I had some part of you.”

Lance smiled softly and leaned in to kiss Shiro’s nose. “I want more,” he told him. 

Shiro smiled widely, resting their foreheads together. “Thank fuck,” he said and Lance laughed softly. 

“I love you, too,” Lance murmured. “Always have. I think that’s why they didn’t tell me you’d be there at Keith and Allura’s. I never got over you, and they all knew that.”

“Please never get over me,” Shiro breathed and Lance kissed his lips. 

“Swear I never will.”

**Author's Note:**

> happy shance day my lovely friends i hope u enjoyed this itd make me really happy to know ur thoughts <3


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